Measurement
Counting manufacturing jobs in India
Capturing the true situation of manufacturing employment in India is a vital part of understanding its economy. We examine the implications of using different data sources to track manufacturing
Measurement
Measurement
Do growth standards for Indian children measure up?
Global growth standards used to define the levels of child stunting in India have been contentious. While a substantial body of research shows that the standards are not inaccurate, more context-specific growth references could also be useful
Measurement
How births and deaths in India are counted
Accurate estimations of demographic trends are vital for planning. India has both a direct and an indirect system to count births and deaths. How did they develop, what works and doesn't, and how can they be improved?
Measurement
How one village swung India's workforce numbers in 2022-23
The 2022-23 and 2023-24 rounds of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey appeared to show large, unexplained deviations on several important indicators. Our research identifies the error that drove those swings
Measurement
Understanding India's National Family Health Survey
How the NFHS has evolved over time, how it collects its data, and key discussions and debates around it
Measurement
Estimating the true extent of road accident fatalities
By official statistics, India has the largest number of reported deaths from road accidents of any country. But these are likely significant underestimates
Measurement
How the NFHS gets India's sex ratio wrong
The National Family Health Survey consistently underestimates the proportion of young males and elderly females in India's population. Estimates of the sex ratio from the NFHS need to be used with caution.
Measurement
How India measures literacy
Literacy rates are rising fast in India. But how literacy is defined matters, as does the manner in which surveys on literacy are conducted, resulting in some illiterate people being missed from official statistics
Measurement
Measuring malaria
Accurately estimating the incidence and mortality from diseases in India, including malaria, is challenging. We lay out the available data sources and explain our reasons behind using selected sources
Measurement
Population projections and their track record
Between censuses, and to plan for the future, countries rely on population projections. Understanding how these projections are made, as well as their past successes and failures, is vital
Measurement
Measuring consumption expenditure
Consumption expenditure data is vital to the understanding of living standards in India. The latest official data offers a new window, but has also seen key changes in methodology
Measurement
Measuring Mortality
Why is it so difficult to accurately estimate how many people die every year, and of what?
Measurement
Measuring employment and unemployment
What is work in Indian statistics, how is work captured, and who is defined as unemployed